The Three Little Figs and the Big, Bad, Beowulf
by rittevon
Summary: Old Beowulf is retired, and living a peaceful life in the enchanted forest, until one day...


This is a story I had to write in seventh grade, two years ago...  
  
  
  
The Three Little Figs  
  
and the  
  
Big, Bad, Beowulf  
  
Beowulf of the Geats whistled a tune as he walked along. A light breeze brushed through the trees of his lovely new home. In the distance, sunny purple mountains climbed high, seeming to fade right into a group of snowy white clouds. He looked at the mountains with a pang of sadness. He longed to explore them, but couldn't anymore. The sadness faded quickly, though, and happiness took its place.  
  
Beowulf was so joyous he felt like singing. After years and years of adventures and bloodshed, he was finally retired. The aged hero now resided in a beautiful old cottage, deep in an enchanted forest. He was proud to toss his sword into a nearby river, and determined to stay peacefully retired.  
  
That day, as the old man was skipping along, he came across a nice old rock by the water. It wasn't shaded by the trees and he could wriggle his toes in the icy-cold river as he relaxed in the warmth of the sun. He sat down and immediately fell asleep.  
  
"Hey, watch where you put those things!" a tiny voice awakened him.  
  
"Huh? Wha--?" Beowulf sputtered. In his confusion, he fell from the large rock and splashed into the shallow river.  
  
"Who's there?" he finally managed to squeak, sopping wet and dripping with water.  
  
"It was me! Yes, me! No, a little lower. There ya go." Beowulf was astonished to see a tiny ladybug sitting by the edge of the stream.  
  
"You nearly killed me with those gigantic toes of yours!" she squealed, her face turning red with rage. Her tiny strawberry-colored body looked like it had been flicked with black paint. Her little arms--no, wait, three pairs of arms, were held in front of her crossly.  
  
"I--I'm sorry, little one." Beowulf apologized whole-heartedly. "I didn't see you there. Are you all right?"  
  
The ladybug's antennae twitched with barely contained anger. "Am I all right?! Yes, I'm perfectly alright! I just barely escaped death, that's all. Oh, I'm just so very happy I think I'll bestow a gift upon you as thanks." She rolled her eyes, but Beowulf didn't notice. You see, his sanity had diminished a bit as he grew older. (After all, he WAS talking to an insect.) It seemed all the killing and blood had had a terrible effect on him, causing him to lose part of his mind in able to forget all the horrible fighting.  
  
"A present? For me?" he crowed with delight.  
  
The ladybug zapped her finger in the direction of a nearby fig tree. Three juicy figs tumbled from the branches, landing in a neat line behind her.  
  
"You see these nice figs? They will make you nice and tall, tall enough so you can see all across the enchanted forest." She spread her 3 pairs of arms/legs for emphasis. "Now wouldn't you like that?"  
  
Old Beowulf nodded, his eyes eager. He took a fig and ate it. Slowly, his body grew three times bigger than before. Beowulf could almost see the tops of the mountains. He kneeled down, carefully placing the last two figs in his large hand. He ate one--it was barely bigger than a blueberry now. He grew 2 times larger this time and could plainly see the snowy tops of the mountains. He hopped with delight, creating a mild earthquake. Then he decided he would like to see over the mountains, since now that he was old he wouldn't have a chance to explore that far away. He dropped the last fig in his mouth (it wasn't much more than a crumb) and waited to enlarge for the third time.  
  
Instead, his body shrunk. It shrunk down to his normal size, but didn't stop. He shrunk until he was half the size of the sly little ladybug (though she wasn't so little anymore).  
  
"Foolish Beowulf! I've tricked you, and now I can squash you like you nearly squashed me."  
  
"Noooo--!" Beowulf started to cry. He sounded like a flea trying to get through the window. But somehow, the sight of the gigantic ladybug brought back his memories of fighting and he quickly constructed a plan. 'I'll outsmart the ladybug, and she'll fall into the river and drown. Then she can't squish me!' he thought happily.  
  
Beowulf backed up a few steps. "Fine! Come and squish me!" he cried, ready to step to the side when the ladybug came running.  
  
"Okay." said the ladybug. And she squished him.  
  
  
  
THE END 


End file.
